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5th grade writing prompts

60 prompts for fifth graders: narrative, opinion, informative, creative and journal, written for the longer pieces they'll need in middle school. Ask Sparky for a set on your own unit.

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A teacher asks Sparky for informative writing prompts for 5th grade and gets five prompts in the chat, from the water cycle to how bees help the environment, with Sparky asking about the unit the class is on

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5th grade narrative writing prompts

Fifth graders control pacing: they slow down the moment that matters and move quickly through the rest, using dialogue and description (Common Core W.5.3). Each prompt here has one moment worth slowing down.

Other grades have their own pages: 3rd grade, 4th grade, middle school and high school. The writing prompt generator writes prompts on your own topic.

  • Hard choices

    1. Write about a moment you had to make a hard choice. Slow down the moment you decided, and speed up the rest.
    2. Write about a time you were left out, or saw someone else left out. What did you do?
    3. Tell about a time you surprised yourself. Show your thoughts through what you said and did.

  • Growing up

    1. Write about something you used to be afraid of and how you stopped being afraid.
    2. Tell the story of a tradition in your family and the part you play in it.
    3. Write about a time an adult trusted you with something important.

  • Endings and beginnings

    1. Write about a teacher or coach who changed how you see yourself.
    2. Write about your first day of kindergarten as you remember it. End with what you would tell that kid now.
    3. Write about the last day of something: a team, a home or a school year.

  • Stories to invent

    1. A kid in 1776 finds a letter that was not meant for them. Write the story.
    2. A character has to cross a river with no bridge. Use dialogue to show how they decide what to do.
    3. Write a story that begins with the line "Nobody believed me until it happened a second time."

5th grade opinion writing prompts

A fifth grade opinion piece puts its reasons in a logical order, supports each with facts and details, and links them with words like consequently and specifically (W.5.1). These prompts have real arguments on more than one side.

  • School rules

    1. Should 5th graders switch classrooms for each subject, like middle schoolers do? Put your reasons in a logical order.
    2. Should students be graded on effort as well as on correct answers? Support your reasons with examples.
    3. Should students wear school uniforms? Use "consequently" or "specifically" to connect your reasons.

  • Screens

    1. Should kids your age have their own phone? Support your opinion with facts and details.
    2. Are video games good for kids? Order your reasons from strongest to weakest and explain why.
    3. Should the school library lend e-readers as well as print books? Give your opinion and reasons.

  • Rights and history

    1. Which right in the Bill of Rights matters most to kids your age? Support your choice.
    2. Should the voting age be lowered to 16? Give reasons supported by facts.
    3. Choose a person your town should name a street after, and make your case.

  • The environment

    1. Should stores stop giving out plastic bags? Give reasons supported by facts.
    2. Should your school turn off its lights and screens for one hour a day to save energy? Explain.
    3. Is a lawn or a garden of native plants better for a schoolyard? Support your opinion with facts.

5th grade informative writing prompts

Fifth grade informative writing compares and contrasts, quotes sources, and links ideas across paragraphs with words like in contrast and especially (W.5.2). Several prompts match fifth grade science and early American history.

  • Science

    1. Explain why your shadow changes length and direction during the day.
    2. Explain the difference between a physical change and a chemical change, with an example of each.
    3. Explain where a plant gets the materials it needs to grow.

  • American history

    1. Explain why many colonists were angry about British taxes before the American Revolution. Quote at least one source.
    2. Compare life in a New England colony and a Southern colony. Use "in contrast" to show a difference.
    3. Explain the three branches of the U.S. government and what each one does.

  • Compare two things

    1. Compare two books by the same author. How are they alike, and how are they different?
    2. Compare two animals people often mix up, such as frogs and toads or alligators and crocodiles.
    3. Compare soccer and basketball: the rules, the skills each needs and what makes each one hard.

  • Explain it

    1. Explain how to plan a class party with a budget of $50.
    2. Explain a hobby you know well to someone who has never tried it, using the words experts use.
    3. Explain how water gets from a river, lake or well to the faucet in your home.

Creative writing prompts for 5th grade

Fifth graders are ready to build a whole setting and keep its rules consistent. These prompts start with the rule and let students invent the rest.

  • What would happen

    1. What if gravity were half as strong for one day? Describe the day at your school.
    2. You can ask one person from history three questions. Who do you choose, and how do they answer?
    3. You wake up and everyone in your family has switched ages. You are the oldest. What happens?

  • Someone else's eyes

    1. Write about a famous moment in history from the point of view of an object that was there.
    2. Write a diary entry by a character from your favorite book on the worst day of their story.
    3. Tell the story of a soccer game from the ball's point of view.

  • New worlds

    1. Design a planet where it is always night. How do plants, animals and people live there?
    2. Create a secret club for kids at your school. What are its rules, and what is its mission?
    3. Write the opening scene of a mystery set in your school library.

  • Short forms

    1. Write a poem about an ordinary object, like a key or a spoon, that makes it seem important.
    2. Write a six-word story about this school year, then explain why you chose those words.
    3. Write a poem for two voices, one for summer and one for winter.

5th grade journal prompts

Questions that ask fifth graders to look back at elementary school and ahead to middle school. Each can be answered in a paragraph.

  • Who I am

    1. What is something you believe that most people your age don't?
    2. Which three words describe you best, and why?
    3. What is a mistake you made that taught you something?

  • Friends and choices

    1. How can you tell when a friendship is a good one?
    2. Write about a time you stood up for what was right, even though it was hard.
    3. What is the best advice anyone has given you?

  • Next year

    1. What are you most excited about for middle school? What makes you nervous?
    2. What do you want your teachers to know about how you learn best?
    3. What advice would you give a kid starting 5th grade next year?

  • Big ideas

    1. If you could solve one problem in the world, which would it be, and how?
    2. What would you put in a time capsule to open when you finish high school?
    3. What question would you like to ask your future self?

Get more 5th grade prompts from Sparky

  1. Tell it the unit

    Type one line, like "informative prompts about the American Revolution for 5th grade" or "opinion prompts about recycling".

  2. Shape the set

    Sparky writes the prompts in the chat or in a document. Ask for a harder version, a quotation to use, or prompts that compare two texts.

  3. Bring them to class

    Paste them into your slides, or ask for a printable sheet you can save as a Google Doc or a Word file.

Ways 5th grade teachers use them

  • Ready for middle school

    Essay prompts big enough for an introduction, three body paragraphs and a conclusion.

    Get essay prompts

  • Compare two texts

    Prompts that ask students to compare two stories, articles or poems the class has read, with quotations from each.

    Compare two texts

  • Science notebooks

    Prompts that ask students to explain an investigation, a model or a result in their own words.

    Use our unit

  • Quick writes

    Ten-minute prompts to start class, check understanding, or get a discussion going.

    Get quick writes

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Frequently asked questions

Are these 5th grade writing prompts free?

Yes. Use or print any prompt on this page, and Sparky is free for teachers when you want more.

What should a 5th grader be able to write?

In the Common Core writing standards, fifth graders order their reasons logically and support them with facts, compare and contrast in reports, quote sources, and control the pacing of a story. These are the skills middle school essays build on.

What are good creative writing topics for 5th grade?

Fifth graders handle a full invented setting, like a planet where it is always night, or a story told from an unusual point of view. The creative section has twelve, and Sparky can write more on a theme your class picks.

How long should a 5th grade essay be?

The standards set no length. Many fifth grade teachers ask for an introduction, two or three body paragraphs and a conclusion, and you can ask Sparky to write prompts sized for that.

Can I print these prompts?

Copy the ones you want, or ask Sparky for a printable sheet. It makes a document you can print, save to Google Drive as a Google Doc or download as a Word file.

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